Point Loma resident and former San Diego Socker Shandley Phillips is turning his professional experience in the form of soccer camps at Liberty Station (NTC) this summer.
“I have decided its time to shift my soccer career from playing to coaching, giving back and sharing what I have learned from the game of soccer,” Phillips said.
Each session is a week long, Mondays through Fridays, starting at 9 a.m. and ending at noon. The first two sessions were held from June 16-20 and June 23-27.
After a week off because of this week’s July 4 holiday, the next session will run July 7-11. The camp will involve working on individual skills such as passing, dribbling, scoring and goaltending.
“On the days where it is too hot, we’ll be playing soccer golf, which is like miniature golf, where we design a course to try and get the ball through where the kids can get active rest,” Phillips said.
Phillips knows Point Loma intimately, having attended Silver Gate Elementary, Correia Middle School and Point Loma High School. He went on to play college soccer at University of California, Irvine and at San Diego State University, then professionally for the San Diego Sockers and the San Diego Flash.
Phillips has also coached for local community-based clubs Albion, Mission Bay SC, La Jolla Nomads and the San Diego Surf. He has also coached youth teams at the YMCA.
For years, soccer has been very popular at the youth level but has struggled to gain the same level of interest at the professional level in the United States.
There appears to be an increased interest now with English soccer star Dave Beckham joining the Los Angeles Galaxy in major league soccer, with the World Cup every four years, the European Cup, (played this summer because it is two years in between World Cup events), and the stability of an American soccer league since its founding in 1996.
“What a great summer to be around the game of soccer,” Phillips said. “Becks (Beckham) at the L.A. Galaxy, Manchester United or Chelsea are on track to possibly win a double and Christian Ronaldo is scheduled to win FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) Player of the Year.”
Ronaldo is a member of the Portuguese national team that played in the European Cup this month. His professional team is the Manchester United of the English Premier League.
Phillips credits a former Brazilian coach with helping him learn about the game of soccer and how it applies to everyday use.
“I would like to teach [life] lessons through the game of soccer,” he said. “Teamwork, hard work, setting goals, practicing and patience, to name a very short list, are all applicable to success.”
For more information, call (619) 365-9226, or visit www.sdsoccercamps.com.